It was the kind of judging decision which justifiably makes boxing’s critics
rail against its system and structure.

Raymundo Beltran clearly defeated Ricky Burns in Glasgow on Saturday night, in the Scotsman’s fourth defence of the World Boxing Organisation lightweight title. It was as clear as a baby’s teardrop.

Yet it was ruled a split draw by the incompetence of the judging officials.

Both fighters, the promoters, and their teams, were clearly all shocked by the decision. Beltran broke Burns’s jaw in the second round – he was operated on on Sunday with a titanium plate screwed into the mandible – and then dropped him to the canvas with one of his trademark left hooks in the eighth round, and, without putting too much of a spin on this, all but dominated most of the fight.

Beltran knew he had won. So did Burns; so did the Scot’s corner. Moreover, so did the partisan crowd. But then came the judging. It was incompetent at best; utterly disgraceful at worst. What is even more galling is that it was not as if it were difficult to score.

Judge Andre Van Grootenbruel of Belgium had it 115-113 for Beltran, an accurate depiction of the fight. And then came two very poor scores: British judge Richie Davis returned a 114-114 draw, and American judge Carlos Ortiz Jr. scored it 115-112 for Burns.

Barry McGuigan, the former WBA world featherweight champion, said when a decision is that bad, he believes judges should be given a warning by the world’s sanctioning bodies the first time, and then struck off if it happens a second time.

The real winner in everyone’s books was Beltran, given the stoicism with which he took the decision. They call this a home town robbery in boxing. It is not a fixed fight, but just that home advantage sways the decision in a subjective judging process.

Beltran was convinced he’d won the fight. The thousands of Scotsman in the arena – supporting Burns – agreed with him. “I think I did everything I had to do to win the fight,” he said in his dressing room afterwards.

“Politics. It’s always the same thing in boxing,” mused the Mexican, a regular sparring partner to Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao. “I think it’s disrespectful for the fighter and the fans. They play the business because they have the power. If I got beat, I got beat. But I didn’t.

"It’s so frustrating. So much hard work, so much sacrifice. We put our lives on the line. They don’t care. I don’t blame Ricky. It’s not his fault. To me, I’m a world champion, and that belt is mine.”

Burns said: “I want to get my jaw seen to, and then we’ll probably fight Raymundo again. From the second round onwards, I was just trying to protect my jaw because I knew it was damaged.”

Eddie Hearn, Burns’s promoter on Sunday cast doubt on the fighter’s futue in the ring, saying: “Everyone’s talking about his next move. I can’t even guarantee he’ll box again at the moment. The doctor, who doesn’t know a lot about boxing, was quite astonished when I told him he had boxed for half an hour with a broken jaw. He asked if he had taken any shots on it and I told him that was the understatement of the year.”